


When the world burns

by spookyscaryiwachan



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Tony Stark, Dark Wanda Maximoff, F/M, Gen, Minor Character Death, POV Tony Stark, Platonic Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, lots of references to avengers films, most of the avengers are cameos, the relationship tag is there for precaution!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 16:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20474195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyscaryiwachan/pseuds/spookyscaryiwachan
Summary: He's on the Avengers' radar. Since he broke away from them all those months ago, refusing to build them new suits, new weapons, no longer funding their stupid missions, training equipment, or defending them from the government - no longer doing everything from them - they've been worried. Not worried about him, though, worried about what he's going to do. And they should be.--After turning against the Avengers, Tony meets Wanda Maximoff, who's just as angry as he is.





	When the world burns

He snags another glass from the tray of a passing waitress, too impatient to sit down and wait to be given a drink.

This might genuinely be one of the worst moments of his life, despite all the other shit he’s been through. It’s as if the universe took everyone Tony despises and stuffed them all into a room for an event lasting _three_ hours. The only thing that would make it worse was if the Avengers were attending, which, luckily, they’re not. 

It’s horrible, having to make polite conversation with sleazy politicians and slimy generals and other American military personnel. Each man tries to outdo the other - polite small talk with underlying hints of aggression, for absolutely no reason other than to try and demonstrate superiority. 

He doesn’t know if he’s going to last. Only one thing is helping him endure the evening - creating detailed plans on how he is going to individually kill everybody in the hall. Violently, bloody; slow, quick. So many options, so many people. 

Which is why he’s there presently. He scans the room, searching for a specific obnoxiously loud laughter in a sea of more obnoxious laughter. And then he spots him: the leader (dictator) of Sokovia - General Kamil Novoty. 

Tony has been planning his death for months, because he’s been using Stark Industry weapons on Sokovian civilians, weapons that are meant to kill his enemies, and innocents are_ not_ his target. 

“Tony Stark.” 

“Ah,” He says, opening his arms wide, “Senator Stern.”

He’s going to make this fucker’s death _really_ painful. As the Senator drones on with his bullshit (Tony’s not paying attention), he ponders if he should use the Iron Man suit Stern tried to get his paws on so many times to kill him. 

When he thinks the Senator’s done with whatever he’s saying, Tony chimes in, “Time for another drink. Want one, Senator?” The alcohol station looks pretty appetising, with its range of expensive, quality alcohol, just perfect for the occasion.

“Yeah, why not?” He says, as if Tony would expect a white, patriotic American man in his late fifties to refuse a drink. They begin their short walk to the bar, when the Senator abruptly stops, “Actually, I’ll get one later,” and turns back to his seat. 

Okay then, that was weird, but Tony will not be deterred from alcohol’s ability to make the evening slightly more bearable. 

There is no one at the table besides a waitress, with long, dark, free-flowing hair (unlike the other waitress’ pulled back, straightened styles), chipped scarlet nails, and wearing so many rings and necklaces that she looks like a cheap jewellery catalogue.

She hovers over a tray with whiskey-filled glasses. He watches as she takes a small capsule from her pocket, dumps all of its contents in one of the drinks. 

He makes his way closer, until he’s by her side. “I hope you’re not working near my table.” The waitress doesn’t flinch at being caught, doesn’t even look at him, which is slightly alarming, “What’cha doing there?” 

She looks him up and down, but keeps her focus on stirring the drink. 

“Poisoning Novoty’s drink.” 

He takes a moment to process. Most people don’t usually admit to attempted assassination right off the bat - it usually takes hours, days, months of torture for that. 

She speaks with a thick Eastern European accent, though he can’t place what county she is from. 

“I see you’re going for that honesty is the best policy thing.” He brings his hands together with a clap, pointing towards her, “I’ve got one. Who are you?” With a flicker of her eyes he can tell she’s reluctant to answer, “Hey, you may not want to tell me, but I’m here to kill Novoty too, so maybe we can... work together on this. Name’s Tony Stark, by the way.”

“I know who you are,” she says, finally, and scowls, “Merchant of Death.” 

It’s been a while since anyone has referred to him with that title. No one wants to remember who the saviour Iron Man used to be. 

“That’s great, really, but I still don’t know who_ you_ are, and since we’ve reached the point in a conversation where you introduce yourself, you’re just being rude. So who are you? Russian spy, CIA operative, assassin?” He keeps pressing her, “Lots people don’t like this guy, so I _gotta_ know who I’m working with.” 

Maybe the working together offer wasn’t a good thing to add. She considers it, however, because she gives him something, “Angry Sokovian.” 

He makes a face at that. He finds it hard to believe that she’s working alone, that she managed to get past all the security without help. She can tell him later.

“I’m gonna guess this guy did something to you, and you want revenge? I gotta tell you, poisoning isn’t the way to go.” She looks at him as if he finally has something of worth to say (which he supposes he does), “You want him to suffer, don’t you? To feel pain. I’m assuming you’ve got poison that will have him choking for a few minutes before his heart stops. A man as bad as Novoty can’t die like that - he should be afraid.”

She picks up the glass. For a moment he thinks she’s going to place it on the tray and walk away, but all she does is throw it into the bin beside them. 

When she faces him, all he sees is determination. 

“And what do you propose we do?” 

-

He tells her to meet him at the back entrance after the event, where he has disabled the cameras. 

“I’m surprised you showed up.” He decides to say, when she arrives. 

“You asked me to.” 

He shrugs, “Still. Follow me.” 

She lets him lead for a minute or two, then stops, and looks at both of them with a perplexed expression. 

“Won’t people question us?” She asks, “Together?” 

He almost laughs. 

“Nope. I’m womaniser Tony Stark. It’s been a long night and I need a good fuck, and you’re the waitress who’s been seduced by my riches and my ruggedly good looks.” He embraces the role by slipping his arm around her waist. She initially resists, then, realising it would benefit them, allows him, resting her hand on his chest in return, “So just stay close to me and laugh and no one will give a shit.” 

They walk for a while. She doesn’t know the city like he does, so she doesn’t question when they take several detours, sometimes to avoid the security cameras, others to show exactly where they are, so it doesn’t seem suspicious. 

“This is his hotel.” 

He puts his briefcase on the ground, opens it up. The Iron Man suit is ready to go. 

“What’s the plan?” 

The suit is attaching itself to him with its distinct _clangs_ and _whirrs_ as he takes his steps forward. 

“You’ll see in a second. Jarvis—“ Tony has to quickly stop himself. 

Jarvis was connected to the old Tony, the better one. When he decided what he wanted to do, he knew Jarvis wouldn’t support him, so he had to disable him, kill him.

“Friday. Cut all the power in New York.” 

“Yes boss.” 

Tony waits for the tale-tell sign of all the hotel lights going off, of every light in the city. Darkness encases them, light only from the glow of Tony’s arc reactor. 

“What are you doing?”

Snappy. 

“If I get rid of the power, Novoty’s men will know something is up.” It’s a simple enough plan that he shouldn’t have to spell it out for her, “To better protect the bastard, they’ll bring him here, the hotel’s back exit, where they’ll be waiting for his private car to arrive and take him to a safe house.” 

The way she looks at him screams hostility. “You didn’t care if I poisoned him.” She spits out, “You just wanted to kill him your way.” 

“Bingo.” Her fists clench, and she’s looking angrier by the second; he’s not used to feeling intimidated by a glare, but her irises are looking red and it’s really unsettling (must be a trick of the light). She’s about to say something, and he wants to entertain her, but there’s no time because Friday is warning him Novoty is coming down the service corridor, “Okay now’s not the time to turn on me. Novoty and his goons’ll be here any second.” The waitress (well, she’s obviously not one, but he has no idea who she is at the moment so it’ll have to stick) nods and pulls a defensive stance, which Tony chuckles at. “I’m not trying to insult you here, but... you don’t look like fighting material. Like at all. So you just hang back here while I deal with them.” 

He runs over to the back exit, hiding behind the door. He can hear the men coming, and soon they are stepping out. Tony grabs the barrel of the first guy’s gun, pushing it up as he uses his suit glove to knock him into next week. He goes down easily, and then the other bodyguards rush out, shouting orders, trying to quickly tackle the threat. 

“Friday, any way we can do this quietly? New York doesn’t need to know we’re assassinating the dictator of Sokovia.” 

“You have not built in any stealth weapons in your suit.” She informs him. 

The bodyguards stand protectively in front of a cowering Novoty, taking their guns out and pointing them at Tony. 

“Next time.” 

He rushes them, knocks guns out some of their hands, blasts some of them away. Those who are weaponless try to advance on the suit, and, well, it’s so funny, because do they really think they’ll get anywhere punching a metal armour? 

A Sokovian takes out a radio, but Tony quickly blasts him back, “No calling your mommy.” 

In minutes the men are all down, so when Tony hears footsteps, he’s surprised, and shit, he didn’t realise that Novoty would have more security available. 

They’re getting closer, dammit, and if it takes too long to get rid of the dead weight, then either the police will arrive before he can get to Novoty, or the power will come back on. 

It’s okay, he’ll handle this. 

He’s surrounded by more people than before. They don’t hesitate to attack, and it’s not that they’ll ever have a chance to overpower him, but he wants to kill Novoty and get away unidentified. 

Suddenly, there’s a glow, something that spreads through the air like ink in water. Not normal, but pink? Red? It lights the alleyway, then it attacks. It passes Tony, makes its way to the bodyguards, surrounds them, closes in. 

Definitely _not_ normal. 

They are lifted off the ground. If this is fake, then Sokovians must be great actors, but it’s not, because they are shouting and struggling and trying to shoot their guns but the mist is keeping them from doing anything to help themselves.

And then they go flying headfirst into the wall. 

He looks around him, because where did that come from? More men are being literally swept off their feet, and when he finally manages to look behind him... he sees the red... something... coming from, from—

_—the waitress? _

Her hands glow some more, she swings her arms back, and Novoty’s security team collapse. They don’t even have time to fire their weapons before she is knocking them to the ground with _fire balls? Energy balls? Magic?_

Whatever it is, it’s doing a much better job then he was, and much quieter. 

In an even shorter time than his round, the men are in a pile around her, unmoving, some bleeding. Novoty looks around him in shock, then terror, once he sets his eyes on Wanda. 

He can ask about her superpowers later. Now, he’ll do what he’s been waiting all night for.

Tony looks at Novoty, steps toward him. Suddenly Wanda’s devil eyes are on him, a hand outstretched.

“Stay back Stark.” 

Her energy comes to him, encloses him. There’s a force keeping him from getting to Novoty, from moving at all. The feeling of it...

It’s _terrifying,_

_Exhilarating._

Novoty falls on his ass. It’s clear he didn’t have time to process Iron Man’s threat, but now that Tony has been halted, all Novoty’s focus, his fear, is on the woman. 

He keeps moving away from her until his back hits the wall. She slowly approaches him, the scarlet threads dancing along her palms. 

“Please,” He shouts, with a choke in his voice, “please! Don’t hurt me.”

“Begging? Seriously?” She spits out, then starts speaking to him in Sokovian.

“Friday, translate.” 

“You think I’ll stop if you beg? You didn’t, when you were killing all of us, leaving thousands of _your_ people homeless, starving, begging on your streets, without food, shelter, safety!” Whatever the fuck is coming out of her body wraps around Novoty, seems to slip into his chest. He tenses, goes quiet, and when her fists shuts tight, he lets out a howl. When she speaks, it’s a shout, “You murdered my parents! We watched them die, had to stare at their bodies for two days until any help came.” 

The man is crying now, still letting out sharp cries and desperate pleads. 

His panic only strengthens her resolve. She leans forward, until she’s a few inches from his face.

“Do you know how it felt?” 

The red energy pulses, seems to harden as it strengthens. A sickening sound echoes in the alleyway, which Friday informs him is Novoty’s ribs shattering after Tony’s urgent _‘what the hell is she doing to him?’_

Blood splatters on her face, but it doesn’t bother her in the slightest. She keeps his heart levitating above her palm, looks at it in awe, then quickly watches Novoty, watches the life deflate from his eyes. 

“It felt like that.” 

Then, as simply as if what she did was nothing, Wanda rises, leaves the heart on his lap. 

“You were right.” She says, once she’s by Tony’s side again. “It was better to have him in pain.”

He can’t believe it. 

“Hey? _Hey!_ What... what the fuck was that?! That red shit?” 

She’s way calmer than him after just having ripped out a man’s heart. 

“I have... abilities.” 

“I can see that, but what the fuck?” 

She takes a deep breath, “It’s called neural electric interfacing, telekinesis and mental manipulation. That’s how the scientists described it, anyway.” 

Okay, okay, science talk. That’s good, something he understands. It actually manages to calm down his spiralling mind, even if he should be more worried now that he knows what she can do. 

He thinks, then thinks some more, “So that’s how you got past the event security.” 

“Bingo.” She says, albeit sarcastically. 

Nope. She’s being too casual and it’s _freaking him out_. No matter her attitude toward him, he is in danger. 

Without thinking, his arms are up in defence, repulsors charging, his weapons systems waiting for him to select an option. 

His breathing shakes at her deadpan expression. Of course; how could a metal suit protect him from _her. _

“You could try and kill me if you want. But I’ll kill you first.” Then, out of all the things she could do, she _smiles_, “Wanda Maximoff.” 

“I’m sorry, _what?_”

“That’s who you’re working with.”

Oh, he forgot about that. 

-

He’s on the Avenger’s radar. Since he broke away from them all those months ago, refusing to build them new suits, new weapons, no longer funding their stupid missions, training equipment, or defending them from the government - no longer doing _everything _for them - they’ve been worried. Not worried about him, though, worried about what he’s going to do. And they should be. 

Kamil Novoty has gone missing, and they suspect him. 

-

It’s not that he’s scared of Wanda, he’s just... cautious. Usually, he doesn’t keep people that can easily kill him around, much less having them live with him. 

-

“You let Hydra experiment on you? A _Nazi terrorist organisation?_” He gives her a sarcastic applause, “They’re bad people.” 

“I didn’t know that when we signed up.” She responds, defensively, “They pretended to be Shield.” 

“Shield aren’t any better.” Liars, they are, Nick Fury and his gang - always with an angle, never revealing what they truly want. “I’ll help you out. You want to know who you should support in this world? Decide for yourself.” 

He leaves, then comes back with a heavy folder. “Not long ago, Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, released some files containing all of Shield’s and Hydra’s dirty little secrets to the public.” He drops it on the table in front of her. Immediately, she turns the page, thanks him, then retreats to her room to read all of it. 

-

They work out a plan, what they want to achieve in the world. Well, not a plan, but, who they want to kill, what they want to destroy. 

It’s not like they want to take over the world. Or kill everyone. He and Wanda want to hurt people who deserve it, and that’s it. 

-

He whispers to Friday: “Find me everything there is on Wanda Maximoff.” 

-

She lost her parents at age ten when a shell collapsed in their apartment. Took two days before her and her twin were pulled from the damage.

A few years later, bitter at Sokovia, the world, the Avengers, and with a desire for revenge, they signed up to be experimented on by Hydra. She survived, her brother did not. 

She became a monster. 

-

He’s eating breakfast when she corners him. 

“You researched me. Pried into my life.”

He wonders how she knows; he realises it doesn’t matter that much. 

“Of course I did. Gotta know who I’m working with.” 

A flash of emotions come across her face, but the one that surfaces the most is despair. 

“You know about my parents?” Her brows furrow, “My brother?” 

He thinks that this might be a good time to lie, but he won’t - he and Wanda are partners, “Everything. Even your grandparents.” 

Her breath falters, “I didn’t know them.” 

Maybe he did go too far, to find out more about her life and family than she knows herself. 

She’s processed her emotions. And she’s _furious._

“It’s not fair.” She says, before storming off. 

Why did that sound like a threat?

-

“Why did you make your weapons?” 

It’s a random question, and absolutely nothing can tell him why she decided to bring it up at that moment. 

But he can still hear the spite behind her words. 

(He read it was his bombs that took her parents, that started the downward spiral of her life, and she’s still falling).

He always knew it was wrong to make them, on some level, but he never stopped until it was too late. 

So why did he make them? 

_Money, my father’s legacy, so bad people would die. _

“I don’t know.” 

-

He’s working in the lab when he feels it. Something to do with his head. It borders along a headache, but it’s not one he’s ever had before. His knees buckle, and he has to keep a hand on the workbench to steady himself. 

“Boss?” Friday says, urgently, “Should I alert Ms Maximoff?” 

“No need.” Wanda says, coming in the room. Her eyes are glowing red. 

“...Is this,” Tony gasps, “Is it you?”

His memories flash before his eyes. Good ones, ones he doesn’t even want to remember. Nightmares from years ago, nightmares from last night. 

“You found out everything you could about me. It’s only fair I do the same.” 

He doesn’t know how long she stays in his head, but, eventually, the flashes stop, and he no longer feels her presence.

“How... did you?” 

“I’m a telepath.” She reminds him.

“So you’ve been reading my mind, for _how long_?” 

“Never. Not until now. Partners should respect privacy. You didn’t.” 

At that moment, he realises he’s crying. She brought everything to the surface he’s been trying to avoid all these years. New York runs through his mind again, but this time of his own volition. The Chitauri, Loki, that sceptre. 

“Fuck you.” He‘s seething. He’s angry, so angry, but he doesn’t hate her. Why doesn’t he hate her?

He doesn’t notice she’s crying too. 

“Fuck you too.” Wanda says. “But I’m sorry if you are.” 

-

Maybe what she did was best for them. There’s no secrets between them, no reason for pointless conversation trying to find out more about each other. After what happened, they can just focus on the work. 

Their bond is stronger, their relationship better. 

He joins her in their small common room. She’s watching tv, the news, to be specific. The Avengers have gone on another mission and left destruction behind. Dead civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Yet, all the reporters talk about are the heroics of Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, and even the Hulk, whose death count rivals Tony’s.

“Do you hate the Avengers? Enough to kill them?” He asks. He hopes she says yes. 

“I hated you, once.” 

Now she stands by his side. 

-

He stops by the Avengers’ Compound one day. He doesn’t know why. 

They come out to greet him, all smiles. Asking him where he’s been, if he’s alright. It’s a mask. 

Steve clasps a hand on his shoulder. Tony pushes him back. The force has Steve falling, and Natasha is quick to steady him. Bruce stares at the spectacle in confusion. 

“Tony—?” 

“We are done.” He tells them. He gets back into his car, and just before he speeds off, “See you on the other side.” 

-

“Wow. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but your suit... looks amazing on you.” 

“Thanks.” She drawls, sarcasm evident, “I think the corset is particularly great. And the cleavage.” More sarcasm.

“No, I mean it. If we weren’t co-workers,” Or friends, companions, whatever the hell they are to each other, “I’d be trying to sleep with you.” 

“I doubt a professional relationship has ever stopped you before.” 

He makes a sound of delight at her heckle. These days, the only ones who insult him are his A.I’s. He doesn’t talk to as many people as he used to, and anyone he does speak to is too afraid.

A loud clang sound follows as his helmet shuts, grabbing her attention.

“Well, you look sexy in that hunk of metal too. Especially since it covers your face.” 

It’s nice to laugh again. 

They know what they want to do. Destroy Hydra bases, Shield bases, all traces of Stark Industry (the only Stark weapons available should be the ones built into his suit), kill the Avengers, and anyone else who deserves it. 

They just have to be on the Avengers’ level. 

“Let’s start training.” 

-

There are two rules: look out for each other...

And no survivors. 

They’ve done a few small jobs, mostly to do with secretly running Stark Industries factories, but this is their first big fish. 

The Hydra emblem sits pretty on its flag (how arrogant can they be). He flies to get a better view of their base, Wanda hovering closely below him. 

“You doing okay?” 

“I think so. It’s taking much less concentration, and I can multitask with my powers.” 

They recently discovered that Wanda’s powers can be used for almost anything in the world, including flight. She’s been practicing a lot with it, but Wanda still isn’t entirely confident, and sometimes her powers short-circuit and she almost falls, but Tony has promised to catch her no matter what. 

They watch the base. They don’t know who’s in there, but it doesn’t matter. These people are Hydra, and they need to die. 

“Bring it to the ground.” 

Wanda nods, raises her arms, releases her powers.

Her scarlet spreads through the cracks in the walls, travelling through the foundations of the old castle. Her arms shake with the pressure of it all, and with a pained shout she falls to her knees, the building crumbling with her. 

“Friday!” His missiles are released from their compact place in his suit, and he fires them off, destroying parts of the castle spared by Wanda. 

He sends a bot out, “Scan for life. Find any, eliminate them.” 

“Yes boss.”

Wanda closes her eyes, does her own sweep, “No more Hydra agents.” She confirms. 

He claps her shoulder.

“Job well done.” 

-

They bring down two more Hydra bases. The news reports say nothing of it, but when he and Wanda attack a Shield compound, the whole world goes crazy. 

He gets a text from Steve after the event. 

_We know it was you._ It reads.

He doesn’t respond. 

Wanda sees the message. “Do we stop?” 

“Of course not. It just means the Avengers are onto us.”

-

Their next attack on a Shield base doesn’t go so smooth. The agents have prepared, but it’s nothing he and Wanda can’t handle. He deflects the missiles they send with his own, or Wanda sends them back. 

It’s nothing to worry about, and the base is destroyed way before the Avengers arrive. 

The only issue is that they haven’t left yet. 

“You’ve made a friend.” Natasha comments. The whole gang is there, blocking their exit, eyes trained on Wanda (people are always too interested in strangers). 

“What, you’ve never seen a pretty girl before?” He says to them, “Seriously, Steve, don’t stare. It makes you look like a hundred year old creep.”

“It’s not the time for jokes.” Rhodey interrupts. 

“When is it then?” 

“You’ve gone off the rails. What happened, Tony?”

“I just see the world for what it really is. I’m not blinded by the arrogance of being a hero.” 

“Enough chit-chat.” Wanda, finally, joins the conversation, “Stark, are we leaving or not?” 

He affirms, “You know what to do.” 

When Wanda’s hands start glowing, the Avengers take a defensive stance. Tony smirks at that. He and Wanda have an advantage, and that’s that none of them have ever fought Wanda before. 

She raises the debris, throws it right at them. They dive to avoid it, and then she sends more, just to distract them. It works, because Tony and Wanda have a window to escape.

“No!” Rhodey follows them, keeps at their tail even when the others are just dots in the distance.

“You know, I think it’s a copyright violation that you keep wearing my suit.” Tony should do something - it’s not like Rhodes is going to leave because of Tony’s dumb comments. 

Rhodey sets his sonic blaster on Wanda. She yells, abandoning her focus on flight to block her ears.

“Wanda!” 

He doesn’t try to fend off Rhodey as he dives for a flailing Wanda. He manages to grab her before she hits the ground, but their current position makes them vulnerable, with Steve and Nat running towards them, Rhodey and Sam in the air. 

He doesn’t realise the relief he feels that she is alive and okay. 

“Hey, Maximoff.” He chuckles when he really looks at her, “Your hair’s a mess.” 

“That’s what falling almost three storeys gets you.” She snarks, “Also I’m okay, if you were wondering.” 

“I know, I just saved you.”

Her fist lightly hits his armoured side. She looks around them, takes in all the threats against them, “We still need to get out of here.” 

“I deal with the guys in the air and you deal with the guys on the ground?”

“Yep.” She grabs the hand he offers her, pulling her up and directing her to where Steve and Nat are. 

“Rhodes.” He says, and flies, makes sure he follows. When he’s sure Rhodey’s sonic blasters are out of Wanda’s range, he stops and charges up his repulsors. 

Rhodey copies him, “Look man, I can’t let you do this.” 

“Fuck off.” 

Wanda’s dealing with the others, easily fending them off. As long as they don’t get close to her, she should be good.

It’s just him and Rhodey. He’s fighting, really trying hard, so Tony cuts him some slack, gives him the hope that his old-ass suit stands a chance against Tony’s, which he works on everyday. 

Tony knows he’s going to start a speech soon, about how it’s not too late. Maybe it’s because he misses Tony, but he doesn’t miss Rhodey. 

“You can come back from this.” He tries. There it is. Then, “Is it her? _Wanda. _Is she doing this to you?”

“It’s all me baby.” He says, tired of this conversation, of Rhodey. He charges up his blasters to full power, then aims at Rhodey. He tries to fly away, of course he does, but Tony has good aim. He watches as the light in the centre of Rhodey’s suit flickers, and he falls through the air, dead stick. The new guy, Falcon or Eagle - some bird - goes after him, but Wanda suspends him in the air, releases him once she rips his wings off. 

Steve and Natasha run to them. Tony and Wanda run in the other direction. 

-

“Your friend is paralysed, not dead.”

Wanda has taken a liking to watching the news. It‘s probably years of not being told anything, by Hydra and Sokovia, that she likes to hear what’s going on in the world, no censorship. He hopes the reporters never talk about her.

“Fuck.” Tony says. “Fuck I was trying.” He rubs his hand on his head, “Gotta get those blasters more powerful.” 

He goes to the lab, prepared to spend all night there. That’s why he loves Wanda so much. She doesn’t give two shits if he spends days down there. She’s not Pepper, caring about his health, trying to get him to sleep or eat. She’s not, and he loves it. She even joins him sometimes (nights are just as sleepless for her as they are for him) and they’ve had some of their best talks. 

They’ve truly become friends. 

-

She feels his eyes on her. 

“What is it Stark?” 

He munches on his bread sticks. 

“You’d be a pretty good superhero, and you know that. Your powers are... amazing - you’d kick my ass any day. Why do you hate humanity so much?” 

“Why do you?”

Fair point. 

If she was literally anyone else, he wouldn’t say. But she’s seen inside his head, knows everything, and he’d like to have someone to confide in. 

“I used to think we have a chance. When the Avengers formed. But after the New York invasion, I realised no one takes the extraterrestrial threats to Earth seriously enough.” He pauses, adds, “It doesn’t help that literally everyone in this world is full of shit.” 

Wanda raises an imaginary glass in salute (it makes Tony chuckle, despite how ridiculous it is). 

He continues, “One day something is going to happen. Something bad. And we won’t be able to protect ourselves because no one cared enough to set up the proper defences. And I don’t... I don’t want to be...” he stops, takes a breath, “We could be wiped out any second.”

She plays with the rings on her fingers, getting herself ready to do her own monologue, “When you lose everybody you love by sixteen, there’s nothing left in life for you. All you can do is keep going even if you don’t want to.”

He reaches his hand out, and she takes it. It’s nice to do_ this_ again. 

“But after my powers, I can’t keep going, like a normal person would. I have to do something.”

They’re sitting outside in the middle of the night. He didn’t feel up for working, or sleeping - fresh air would momentarily help him, he hoped. 

He stares at the stars, doesn’t see beauty, but a threat, and also an escape.

“When the world burns, let’s find somewhere else to go. Be together.”

Space is... infinite, and yet they confine themselves to a self-destructing planet full of people they hate, who hate them too. 

“I’d like that.” She stands and moves closer to him, sits with her knee touching his. “We could go to Mars?” She offers. 

“Your home planet? No, I’m the scientist, I’ll find us somewhere.” 

-

Black widow comes to them. Natasha, freaking, Romanoff. 

“I want to stand with you.” She says.

Tony looks to Wanda, but her eyes are already glowing red. Natasha looks anxious, afraid, even. She should be.

“This is a mission.” 

“A lie, you mean.” Tony replies. 

Their eyes turn to Natasha. She takes a few steps back, like she truly believes that _distance_ will give her a small advantage against Iron Man and Wanda’s unlimited powers. 

“A spider trapped in a cup.” He sighs. 

She pulls a gun.

“Romanoff, I have a soft spot for you. I have had... a lot of dreams about you,” Wanda rolls her eyes at that comment, as does Natasha, “but we can’t stand for this. Give us the gun, you’ll get out of this easy.” 

“Liar.” She says, and he can’t help but agree. 

“Still. Everything will hurt a lot less if you _put down the gun._” Each word is accentuated with a pause. 

“Sorry,” She says, “orders.”

The gun is pointing his way as her finger presses on the trigger, and a bullet is coming for his skull. 

He is going to die.

Then, a red mist. He looks up, sees the bullet paused in the air, just inches from killing him.

He turns his attention away from Romanoff, no more tricks up her sleeve, no longer a threat. Wanda looks at him, still holding the bullet in place. God, he loves her. She looks back to Natasha. He does, too.

He reaches, plucks it out of the air. Romanoff’s face is one of pure terror. 

He chuckles.

“Now everything’s really gonna hurt.” 

Finally, a chance to kill an Avenger. Not just battle wounds, but the time to hurt her, to savour her pain. 

And then the Hulk crashes through the wall.

Wanda’s standing way too close when it happens, and he sees her go, unable to control her movements, her scarlet trying desperately to protect her. She falls into his bar, with a crash and a crunch that reminds him of Novoty.

The Hulk roars, and Tony wonders if they knew Wanda would be standing there (she is the one they are most afraid of), knew they should take her out first. 

“Friday!” 

“Yes boss.” He hears, but from the speakers built into their compound. 

If this was done on purpose - they had clashed so often with the Avengers that (perhaps) Tony wasn’t expecting a time where they would actually try to kill him, that they hadn’t lost hope in their too-gone friend - he doesn’t care about that - but if they went after Wanda first, if he has to watch the ‘heroic’ Avengers murder her, he’ll kill them all where they stand. 

—if he had his suit. 

Fuck.

_Fuck. _

What is he going to do? 

“Give it up Stark.” Cap says. 

Tony just gives him the finger. 

The others surround Wanda. She’s struggling, can’t move, _bleeding._

They’re trapped. There’s nothing they can do to get out of this, but he can’t go to jail. They’ll be put in a special prison, like the Raft, where they’ll have straight-jackets on constantly and the only time they can leave their cell is to shit. 

He’s panicking. How can he get Wanda and himself out of this if he’s panicking? 

His head is hurting. There’s _that_ sensation again. One he hasn’t felt for... just under two years, when Wanda really fucked with him.

_Tony?_ Wanda’s voice rings in his head.

He doesn’t believe it. Can’t believe it.

_Are we... talking in our heads. Or am I imagining this in my desperation?_

He looks at her, sees her looking at him. Her irises are a dark red, and when he catches his reflection in a broken shard, his eyes hold that same colour. 

_It’s real. Telepath, remember?_

_I can’t believe I’m doing telepathy right now_, he thinks, but then realises it’s the same as speaking to her. 

_Yep, big surprise. We need a plan. _Her voice is so loud in his head he winces. _You have suits in your basement, yes? If we can get to them, we can escape._

_Can you move?_

She tries to sit up, keeps all of her weight on a blood covered hand. Her breath catches, and she can’t help but release a shout. 

“Don’t move.” He hears Natasha warn her. She points one of her electrocuting rods at Wanda. 

_That’s a no, then._

_I can still use my powers, but it won’t be for long._

_Okay._ He feels his mind working a mile a minute, trying to think of how they can get out of this situation. _I have an idea. Bring down the roof, but keep it from collapsing on you. I’ll get downstairs, get the suit, carry us both out of here._

_You’ll have to be quick._ She warns him. _Count down._

He coughs, a very loud, spluttering cough. 

_Three._

It gets everybody’s attention, and Wanda has time to collect and manipulate her scarlet.

_Two._

The walls are cracking. Steve hears it, takes his attention off Tony. The others start to turn too. 

_One!_

-

The Avengers certainly weren’t expecting that. He doesn’t know if they survived, but that doesn’t matter to him, only Wanda does, who’s being held in the metal arms of his suit.

He’s glad the plan worked, every part of it. He got in the basement before the roof caved in on him, managed to get his suit. Wanda was barely keeping the rubble off her when he got to her, and the light from her energy allowed him to actually see where she was. 

He has to hold her carefully, try not to move her at all. He can’t do a complete analysis of her injuries whilst flying. 

They get to their second base pretty soon. It was Wanda who suggested they keep a second base in an abandoned Stark Industries factory - already with everything they had in their original one - and Tony was surprised he didn’t think of it first.

He helps her clean up, covers her wounds, sets her down on the barely comfortable couch (he’ll swap it out when he has time). The Hulk really did her in, and he’ll never forgive Bruce for that. She has a small concussion, a few broken bones, cuts, forming bruises that he knows will end up black, but nothing lethal, at least. 

“I’ll be in the lab. See you in a few hours. Get some sleep.” 

“Okay.” 

-

He has a design in mind, something so he can call his armour to him, have it protect them without him needing to be_ in_ the suit.

The _Iron Legion,_ he’ll call it. 

-

She stares at his arm, all the puncture marks near his veins, the bruising around them. 

“Doing heroin now?” Wanda says. She doesn’t sound like she would be surprised if he says yes - she always knew how fucked up he is.

“No.” He says. He brings over fresh bandages, starts to work on the ones on her arm, the gash on her leg, the one on her stomach (he tries not to look at it, tries not to think she would’ve died because of him). “I’m just making sure that this never happens again.”

-

He lies on her lap and takes the bullet out of his pocket, observes it, analyses it, lets the cool metal dance between his fingers.

“I wish it killed me.” 

“I know.” 

“It should have.” 

“I know.” 

He sighs, then, “Why did you stop it?” 

“Because I can’t lose you too.” 

A beat passes. 

“Selfish.”

-

He finds the man who killed his parents from a file sent to his computer by some Sokovian he won’t remember the name of, and he watches as James Buchanan Barnes strangles his mother. 

There’s a satisfaction he feels watching his father die, knowing that the bastard died afraid and in pain. 

He calls Wanda down, shows the clip to her. 

“We’re going to kill that man. The Winter Soldier. He’s also Captain America’s bestie, so it’ll be like killing two birds with one stone.” 

Her lips purse, “Okay.” She says, but something about it isn’t like when she blindly agrees with his plans. 

-

They have him cornered. For the world’s deadliest assassin, he didn’t give much of an impressive defence. 

He struggles desperately, pinned against the wall, but he can’t escape Wanda’s magical hold.

“Do you remember them? Howard and Maria Stark?” 

“I remember all of them.” He sounds almost pained when he says it, but Tony refuses to believe that man feels any remorse. 

“Good. Very good. This,” Tony steps forward, taps Bucky’s metal arm, “is for your friend, Steve Rogers.” 

Though the man is trembling, his voice is a rough growl when it eventually comes out, “Good luck getting it off.”

“I think we can manage. Wanda, you want to do the honours?” 

She shakes her head, “You should.” 

Tony won’t argue with that. Bucky thrashes as Tony aims his lasers on his arm. Wanda is working hard to keep him as still as possible. He moves his aim a little to the left in order to cut into the skin rather than the metal. _No pain no gain, right? _

“Wands–“ 

“Never call me that.” 

He tries not to be intimidated by her glare, “Can you do anything?” 

“I already am.” She gestures to her scarlet surrounding them, but that’s not the answer he’s looking for, so she continues, “I’ve sensitised his skin receptors, what will feel the pain, while also influencing any civilians to ignore what they hear. They’ll realise what’s happening when they leave my range, but we’ll have enough time to kill Barnes.” 

“That’s why I love you Maximoff.” He sets his gaze back to the vibranium arm, then activates his laser, relishes the screams.

It’s... therapeutic to hold the same arm that killed his mother, or maybe it’s because he ripped the arm off the man who took his mother from this world. Either way, he can’t help but laugh as he holds it, completely limp, nothing like the reputation it has gained over the years. There’s blood dripping down both the arm and seeping into Barnes’ collar. 

“God, do you ever _shut the fuck up!_” 

Bucky is still screaming, raw, animalistic, but he’s crying too, and Tony thinks he hears a muted ‘Steve,’ as if Captain America could save him now. 

“Boss, the Winter Soldier is bleeding out.” Friday warns him. “The injury will be fatal.”

“Good.” 

They leave him there to die. 

-

Steve has never looked at him with so much hate. 

“You killed him!” He shouts, “You killed Bucky.” 

This time, Steve has brought all of the Avengers. They watch the two of them intently.

“He killed my mom.” He pauses, and his voice goes deadly quiet, “Did you know?” 

“I didn’t know it was him.” 

“Don’t bullshit me Rogers. Did you know?” He shouts. He looks at Wanda. All she does is nod. He scoffs, “He deserved what he got.” 

Steve’s face is a mix of anger and grief, maybe guilt. “Now!” He commands. 

Something happens to Tony’s suit. He can feel it. 

“We have some weapons systems offline.” 

“They what—“

A voice.

“Oh you’re gonna have to take this into the shop.” 

Who’s speaking? 

“Who’s. Speaking.”

“It’s your conscience.” Is there someone... _in his suit? _“We don’t talk a lot these days.”

Okay, enough of being funny, whoever the fuck this guy is. 

“Friday!”

“Deploying fire suppression system.”

He hears the stranger’s yell as they try to avoid the defence system. Out of an exposed panel of his suit, he sees something tiny shoot out, but before they can hit the ground, they go... big, well, normal sized.

“What are you?” Is all Tony can say. 

“Ant-man.” The stranger replies. 

He doesn’t care anymore. “Friday, fix whatever he did. Now.” 

While Friday deals with his suit, someone in a red costume jumps over Steve, shoots something at Wanda. It sticks on her hands, tying them together, and another wave of whatever that stuff is traps her against the wall. 

The person has a big spider on their chest, and, oh, Tony knows who it is now.

“Did I do good, Captain America?” The _child_ asks excitedly. Steve sighs, gives him a quick thumbs up.

So it seems underoos doesn’t understand what a serious moment is.

“Okay spider-boy, this is a grown up talk, so run along.” 

“He’s with us.” Steve jumps in. He always has to say something. When Tony gets the chance, he’ll rip his tongue out. 

“I’m not talking to you. Liar.” He points to spider-man, “Your secret identity isn’t so secret, Peter Parker, from Queens.” Something changes in the kid. Peter looks deathly afraid, even though he’s wearing his mask, “Run along now, or you’re not going to go home to your aunt May in one piece.” 

“Tony!” 

“Cap if you think the kid is ready for a real fight then he’s gotta know the real stakes. Wanda.” 

With a quick pulse of her powers, the webs slip off her. She approaches Peter, but doesn’t get too close as to alarm the others. 

“You want to leave, don’t you?” 

He has to swallow before he speaks, “No... no I don’t.” 

“You can’t hide anything from me... Do you want to die?” His throat wobbles, and Tony can see his eyes water in that pathetic self-made suit of his. 

Kids are the easiest to break. 

“Marks!”

The Iron Legion fly towards them, creating a line with Wanda and Tony in the centre.

“A robot army?” Natasha sounds exasperated. 

“They weren’t meant for this. But this is a good time to try them out.” 

“We don’t need to fight.” She tries.

“Bit late for that. Maybe you shouldn’t have attacked us at our _home_ three months ago. You brought the fight to us. And now we’re doing the same.” 

He commands his droids to attack. 

It’s the best way to fight while he and Wanda are outnumbered. They can only deal with so many Avengers at the same time, so the robots can take the brunt. 

He hears a blood-curdling scream, figures it’s Wanda, doing that brutal mind shit of hers to some unfortunate Avenger (he hates them, yes, but having experienced the pain she can cause first hand, he feels a little sympathy). 

He flies around the Avengers Compound. Instead it is Wanda, but only because Clint has an arrow in her forehead, electrocuting her. Around her are Steve and Natasha, kneeling on the ground, looking around them in a daze - he thinks Steve is crying. So Wanda did do something. 

A droid puts itself between Wanda and Clint. While Hawkeye deals with it, he grabs Wanda, pulling the arrow away before getting her as far away from the scene as possible. 

An arrow sings, and Tony just manages to dodge it before using his blasters to combust it.

“Should’ve stayed retired, Robin Hood.” 

The explosions are loud as three drones crash into the ground. Clint tried to avoid them, but the third one gets him, and he’s left a crippled heap on the floor. 

“You alright?” She takes long, deep breathes, clutching her head. He hears her curse in Sokovian, but eventually she answers, having to take big gulps of air in between. 

“I’m fine.” He leaves her there, sends a few armours to make sure none of the Avengers get the drop on her again. 

Parker uses the robots to swing on, so Tony has them all fly low to the ground. He hears Spider-Man yell, and he scrapes against the ground. 

Ant-man runs toward him. If he’s going to be honest, it’s an annoying superpower. Before Scott can get to him, however, an energy ball takes him back. 

Black Widow comes for him. He dodges the first couple blows, then calls for one of his armours to whisk her away. 

“Enjoy the honeymoon!” 

Something hits Tony in the back. It causes his head to jostle in his helmet, and he can feel blood run down his cheek from a fresh cut. An explosion takes the metal from his arm. 

How is something damaging his suit? 

He holds his exposed wrist up, calls another mark to come to him to quickly replace it.

But before it can reach him, Steve catches the droid, rips it’s head off, rips it apart, until it’s useless. He throws piece by piece at Tony, which actually does damage to his suit. 

“That’s getting real annoying.” 

By the last throw, Steve is prepared to fight him. By using the shield and his own abilities, he quickly manages to fight Tony on an equal level to him. It’s dangerous.

“You can’t beat him at hand-to-hand combat.” Friday hollers in his ears. So much for a supportive A.I.

“Analyse his fight pattern.” 

It works; he’s not overwhelmed anymore by his attacks. When Steve lands a hit on him, Tony goes for his exposed midriff, or legs, or head.

“Cap!” Oh great, the swinging-spider kid is back. His webs come around Tony’s legs, but he quickly uses his blasters to free himself. 

Tony knocks him into the ground, hard. Steve runs towards the kid, as if shocked at Tony’s violence. It’s too late for that. 

“Are you going soft now?” Wanda says beside him. When did she get to him? She looks a little beat up, probably because Ant-Man managed to get too close to her earlier (they should focus more on hand-to-hand combat, and he definitely needs to alter his suit to leave no exposed entry points), but he’s not a problem anymore. 

“Of course not.” He says, then Friday is in his ear. 

“Boss, Parker has no life threatening injuries, is that what you wanted?”

“Just attack Steve.” He growls. And no, he’s not going soft, but he’s not going to kill a fifteen-year-old that has done nothing but idolised the Avengers and taken this role simply because Steve offered it to him; someone who has done nothing against Tony.

“I’m not a monster.” He says aloud. 

“Then what are you?” After she says that, Wanda disappears to keep fighting. 

Tony doesn’t know a time where he’s seen Steve Rogers fight to kill. The last time must have been when the Chitauri came, but they weren’t human, so killing them was never unnatural. This time, Steve is trying to kill _him_. Each punch he delivers is brutal, and he is trying so hard to rip off Tony’s mask to hurt him more. 

When Steve inevitably takes him down, he sits on top of his suit, attacks Tony’s face. Roger’s hands feel around the collar of the Iron suit, pulling, and then some of it breaks off, revealing Tony’s neck and part of his shoulder. 

Steve grabs the broken metal, shoves it into his collarbone, then twists it. His vision flashes as it happens, and he screams. Steve pulls it out, but doesn’t give him a break because his fingers are scrambling, and then they’re wrapping around his neck, squeezing. Tony chokes. His fists clench at his side, but he can’t move then, not when Steve’s thighs are pinning him. 

He manages to catch a glimpse of Rogers, that pure determination.

“Finish it.” Tony goads. He can imagine Wanda calling him stupid for that. 

For a moment, Steve’s grip tightens (he didn’t think that was possible), his arms trembling with the force of strangling someone, but then, surprisingly, releases altogether. 

He still doesn’t move, however, just leans back to grab his shield. He holds it high above Tony’s head, the edges glinting dangerously, and brings it down. Tony immediately covers his face, feels something wash over him. Regret? Relief? It makes sense for him to die from his father’s invention, and yet when the shield lands, it’s in the centre of his suit... 

Which is much worse. Steve removes the shield, sets up the blow again. 

He can’t power down the suit. No. He can’t. If he does, they’re screwed. 

Tony finally comes back to his senses. He charges up, releases all power from his suit core and blasts it into Steve’s chest. Steve goes down, unmoving on the ground, a hole in his uniform where his heart should be, and the smell of burnt skin. 

He scrambles to get up, leans against a nearby structure, takes a breather. His head is pounding almost as much as his chest, heart throbbing like the wound on his shoulder. 

“I think we’ve done enough damage for today.” Wanda rests a placating hand on the opposite shoulder. He wonders how much of his beating she saw. 

“Getting tired?” Despite his quip, he ends up nodding, “Time for the finale. Activate clean slate protocol.” 

The surviving members of the Iron Legion all fall, trying to get as close to the base or another Avenger as they can before self-destructing. 

In the end, all there is is smoke, and an Avenger’s base in mid-collapse. 

-

“What’s wrong?” 

Wanda’s been oddly quiet while surveying his injuries. She rubs the disinfectant on his head, rougher than necessary (she catches the cut with those long nails of hers, making him hiss). 

She throws the wipe down on the counter. “I knew you would get hurt if we did this.”

“People get hurt in fights. All the time.” She takes the plaster, removing all its packaging, slaps it onto his cut. “Ow!” 

“I meant killing Captain America’s friend. From now he’ll show no mercy against you.” 

“And neither will we. We’re trying to—“

“End the Avengers. Yes, I know.” She sounds almost... exasperated when she says that, but whatever it was, it’s gone as quick as it came, and she’s nice again, “I can make the pain go away, if you’d like?” 

“No, thank you.” 

-

“I want to be with Pietro.” 

He always knew that, even if they never talk about it. Just like she knows he wants the same thing.

“I know.” 

“I miss him so much.”

His chest feels tight, heart pumping.

“We could see him again.” He offers. 

“We?” 

He shudders, “Yes. Both of us. Together.” 

“We’ll be weak, if we do it.” She closes her eyes, really thinks about it, and for a moment she looks at peace. It doesn’t last long, “It would make a lot of people happy.” 

He groans, “You couldn’t let me dream, could you?” 

They can’t kill themselves, can’t give the world the satisfaction of knowing that the threat of Tony Stark and Wanda Maximoff is over. Not when they haven’t finished what they started. 

-

One day, they turn on the tv. 

“What the fuck?” 

Spaceships, ugly creatures, destruction. The Avengers are at the centre of it all, together again in Wakanda.

The reporters describe someone called Thanos, say he’s responsible for the New York attack six years ago, and now he’s on Earth with the desire to wipe everybody out. 

He drops his glass, doesn’t notice when it shatters, drink spilling everywhere.

“The threat was real.” He gasps. 

He feels like his heart will stop any second as he falls to his knees. 

_A suit of armour around the world. _

Wanda’s by him in seconds, whispering something he can’t understand, trying to bring him back to reality. 

“Thanos.” He murmurs, shaky, with a choke. “That fucker.” 

She holds his cheeks, rubs her thumbs in soothing circles, “Do you want to fight him? Stop him?” 

He shakes his head, keeps his hands over hers, “No._ No!_ I told everyone this would happen, I fucking said it... and no one. No one cared!” He pauses, “This is their fault. I hope Thanos kills them all. I hope they all kill each other.” 

“Okay.” She says, “Okay.” 

He’s shaking, trembling, because even though he wants nothing to do with the battle, Thanos has plagued him for years, been the centre of his nightmares, his motivation for turning against heroism. 

Her arms wrap around him, and he sinks into her chest, feeling a little better from the soft, steady thrum of her heart. 

-

Despite what he said, an unsettling feeling sits deep in Tony’s chest as he watches the dust before him. People, disappearing in front of him, going who knows where. 

“Wanda,” he calls out, then a little more desperately, “Wanda!” 

“Tony!” He hears her cry, and suddenly he’s running toward the sound of her voice, towards her footsteps coming to him. 

They melt into each other, clutching, waiting for one of them, or both of them, if they‘re fortunate enough, to disappear along with the hundreds, thousands, hell, billions. 

Instead, somehow, they both are left, crying. He feels Wanda clutch his jacket tightly, leaving her place from the crook of his neck to place her forehead onto his, then her lips.

One kiss turns into two, and another. She has climbed on top of him, and he reciprocates; a hand around her waist to steady her, another tangling itself in her hair. 

It’s not like any of his past kisses, filled with passion; there’s the warmth of Wanda, the softness of her lips, a taste when his tongue tries for more, but no, he realises, _this is wrong._ The only thing he feels is someone’s lips on his, a body on his, but no real emotion tied to it. 

And she must feel the same, because, then, she stops. Pulls away from his lips, but not so far as to leave his hold. 

“It’s been a while.” She mutters. _Since either of us had more than each other, a different type of affection._ And it’s true - it’s been months, maybe years since Tony slept with anyone - Pepper must have been his last. In their grief, fear, there was desperation and longing, but not one the other could satisfy. 

“Yeah.” Is all he can say, with a deep sigh. 

-

They’re sitting in the remains of their base when Friday notifies them of visitors. He tells his A.I. to pull up the footage from the cameras outside. 

“Look what the cat dragged in! What the _hell_ do you want,” he pauses for a beat, to enjoy the way they all pathetically startled at his voice, “_Avengers._” 

There’s a lot less of them, but they’re here - Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Clint, and the tiny guy he fought once - all nursing new wounds.

Steve hesitates. Maybe he realises that whatever they came here for, to ask _Tony_ of all people, wouldn’t be worth it, or maybe he still desperately wants to kill him. 

It’s Natasha who steps up, stands right in front of the camera, and it’s like her eyes are looking right at them. 

“Tony, Maximoff, we’re not here to fight. We want to talk to you.” 

“Just give my associate and I a moment to see if we want to let you in.” 

He leans over to Wanda.

“We shouldn’t.” She warns, “We’re outnumbered.” 

“We were always outnumbered before. Didn’t stop us from kicking ass. Besides, look at them. I doubt they have any fight left in them.” The realisation stirs something inside him, “This is an opportunity to ridicule them, Wanda. Make them know their failure.” 

She nods at that, “They are obviously in pain.”

“So lets talk to them. Friday—“ 

“We should be kinder.” She adds, sudden, “They are here for a reason.” 

Since when was Wanda compassionate to the Avengers?

“Don’t tell me you’re getting soft on me now.”

She rests her hand on his knee. 

“We were lucky. When that disaster came. We were fortunate not to lose each other, that we don’t have anyone else to lose.” 

“You call that _lucky?_” 

“Of course I don’t. But I’m saying that we’re not as affected as the others. And if they’re coming _here_, of all places.... you must be their last option.”

“Okay, _mother_. I’ll play nice with the other kids. Friday, unlock the doors.” 

The Avengers’ steps are slow, cautious; maybe they think the compound is booby-trapped.

“So where’s the rest of the gang?” 

They bristle at that comment.

“Rhodey couldn’t be here.” Natasha starts, “He’s... paralysed.” 

Tony’s jaw tightens. He knows that, he _did_ it, and he doesn’t care to hear about Rhodey. 

“Your other friends?”

“Thor won’t return our calls. We’re trying to find him now. The others...”

“Gone.” Wanda deducts. 

The remaining Avengers go quiet.

Tony sighs, loud, noticeable. He didn’t want to be the one who has to move the conversation along, but he’s doing it, “What do you want, Steve?” 

“We think there’s a way to bring everybody back.”

He tries not to laugh. “After the beating you received. After that guy, Thanos, with the army and the stones killed half of the universe, and you think there’s still a chance.” Tony laughs, “God, I always hated that giddy optimism of yours.” 

Clint pulls out his bow, points it at Tony. 

“Stark, you bastard. I’ll fucking kill you right now.” 

“Try it.” Wanda challenges, her eyes already red, on the defensive.

“Oh hey, Legolas. Didn’t realise you were there. I’m sure you could really take me down with your, you know, medieval weapons?”

Natasha’s hand clutches Clint’s. It calms him down. “Can you be serious for _two_ seconds?”

“Tell us why you’re here.” Wanda interrupts, done with their more-hostility-than-banter. 

Tony entertains them, listens to every detail of their stupid plan, every explanation that comes with how complicated it is. 

“How do you know it will work?” He says, when they’re done. 

“We don’t. Not entirely.” Scott answers. 

“But we have to try.” Natasha finishes. She’s changed a lot from when he first met her, “You’re the only one we can turn to, the only one smart enough.” 

“What about the Hulk?” Bruce flinches, as he always does when Tony insists on reminding Banner what a monster he is. “With his seven phds.” 

“I can’t do it.” 

“Guess you are only good enough for destroying things.” 

“Tony–“

“Save it.” 

“Tony,” Steve tries, “This is a second chance, for you and Maximoff.” 

He rubs his head, “Ok. Let’s imagine your completely illogical plan... works. I figure out time travel. Then what?”

“Well,” Steve says, tentatively, “we’ll still need help with getting all the infinity stones. And—“

“So how much of this _Time Heist_ \- stupid name, by the way, Ant - do you want us to do for you, huh?” When no one has a response for Tony, he keeps talking, “Come on, you guys are the Avengers, for God’s sake. The Earth’s mightiest heroes. The people need you, and you’ve come begging to us to do all the work.” 

Natasha looks at the two of them, Wanda, specifically. 

“Max— Wanda,” she glares at Natasha for the informality, “Please. We really need you too. You two are the most powerful people we know. You’re our last hope.” She looks at Tony. 

“I can’t help you.” He decides. 

“Or you won’t.” Cap gives Scott a scolding glance for that. Does he really think kissing up to Tony will help their case? 

“Just, please, consider it.” Steve has never looked so defeated before, and, although he never thought it possible, Tony doesn’t have anything to say, doesn’t feel the need to interrupt the righteous man with something to ridicule him. 

“Just please,” Tony echoes, “leave.” 

Natasha is close to tears. This new guy, Scott, looks mortified at his behaviour, though what could he really have expected. 

“Fine.” Steve says, and like the Captain he is, leads everyone out of their base. 

-

“Let’s try the sim with a Möbius strip, inverted please.” 

“One second boss.” 

He feels Wanda come by his side.

“I thought you were sleeping.” Wanda’s hand laces with his. She looks at the simulator, tries to understand it, “You’re trying to figure out time travel.” It’s not a question, but he nods anyway.

“Should I stop?” Wanda doesn’t respond, just looks at him, and he understands that this is his choice, and only his. “Run it.” 

There’s palpable tension during the wait, and Tony waits for Friday to tell him it’s another failed design. He glances at Wanda, sees her chewing on her lip. He squeezes her hand. 

The hologram lights green.

“Model successful.” Friday announces. 

It echoes in his ears - he did the impossible, what the Avengers begged him to do. 

Wanda’s the first to have a reaction, though he’s not sure if a loud _‘Shit!’_ can really count for anything.

“Yeah. Shit.” 

There’s a shift, then, when he looks at her. With a solemn voice, she asks, “What do we do?” 

His hands move around, the model moving around as well as he inspects it. _Could it really work? _

The world will go back to normal, and he and Wanda will once again be the enemy. They could bring back billions, reunite families, and yet... they would still be as alone as ever, still only have each other. 

He zooms in the model, watches it over and over, then he—

They could lose their lives. He could be a hero again. 

—deletes the file, destroys all traces that he figured out time travel. 

She audibly gasps. She must not have expected him to do that. 

“Tony?” 

_The world is ending. _

“What we’ll do is... leave this godforsaken planet, these people. We’ll find someplace new.” 

“We’ll be together.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ;)
> 
> Also i would just like to clarify that Tony and Wanda's kiss never happens again - aside from that their relationship is purely platonic. The story is also on my tumblr deadlydeadlyclass


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